Liquid crystal displays are known in the art. Generally, they provide a convenient method for presenting different visual states by controlling whether light is transmitted or not through a liquid crystal material. However, often their optical performance is middling.
In one type of liquid crystal displays, the twisted nematics (or TN's), a polarizer which absorbs one half of the incident light must be present. The result is a display which is not very bright, with black pixels against a silvery grey background, and which may be difficult to read in when ambient lighting conditions are poor.
Liquid crystal displays which rely on the altering the light absorption properties of a dichroic dye dissolved in the liquid crystal are also known. However, even in the state in which the dye is nominally non-absorbing, there is significant residual absorption, making it difficult to exceed 50% brightness and retain a high contrast ratio.
Another class of liquid crystal displays relies on the scattering properties of a liquid crystal material dispersed in a polymeric matrix. However, most of the light scattered is forwardly scattered. When used in a direct viewing mode, this is disadvantageous because little incident light is redirected back towards the viewer. When used in the transmissive mode, this is disadvantageous because the forwardly scattered light decreases contrast.